Zepol completed the data for February on March 6th in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. In a pattern similar to last month, imports saw a 8.45% decrease from December and a slightly smaller 2.14% decrease from January. However, when looking at the year trend, February 2010 saw a 20.80% increase in shipments from February 2009.

Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:

An almost 21.00% increase from a year ago seems like a good indication that trade is now out of troubled waters. However, keep in mind that February of 2009 was one of the worst months of the recession thus far and historically, February is one of the slowest months of the year for trade. The tables illustrate a glaring reminder that trade changes quickly as we can see that trade with Asia has increased by 31.89% over February 2009, clearly showing that Asia has been recovering more quickly than Europe from this recession. Los Angeles also saw steady growth and maintained its top position as the U.S.'s most active port, while the Port of Long Beach is continuing to make strides with a 49.02% increase since February of 2009. The Port of Seattle has also grown quickly, increasing its total shipments by 78.95% over the same period, although a portion of this growth can be explained by how U.S. Customs collects data in their AMS system.

Below are the top 10 U.S. Ports by shipment count:
The collection methods used by U.S. Customs for AMS data can lead to an overstatement of shipments for some ports as imports and exports from Prince Rupert and Vancouver are often recorded as imports for the U.S. Moreover, it does include shipments from empty containers, may overstate totals from transshipments, and include other data anomalies.

Zepol's U.S. Customs trade data is taken from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. The information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.

On February 10th, the U.S. Census Bureau released their Merchandise Trade data numbers for December 2009, completing the year’s data. Exports finished strong with 4.83% growth from November and 10.42% growth from December 2008. The Merchandise Trade balance ended the year with a $500 billion total deficit, which is still 37.38% lower than 2008 totals.

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the U.S. Census Merchandise Trade data released last week. This month we have highlighted 5 interesting items that we found while looking at December's data; here are the highlights:

1. Industrial Supplies and Materials Hit Hardest
2. Manufacturing Continues to Expand
3. Anti-Dumping Suits on Taiwan Do Not Effect Trade Patterns with U.S.
4. Printed Materials Still Going Strong
5. National Export Initiative Projections
   

Click here for Zepol's U.S. Census Merchandise Trade Data Update for December 2009

Zepol completed the data for January on February 6th in our U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ. Import shipments saw a 6.26% decrease from December and a 4.38% decrease from November, reflecting the annual event of consumer demand decreasing after the holiday season. This January did see a small 0.43% increase from January 2009 and it will be interesting to see how 2010 proceeds.

Below is a table showing port regions of the world where shipments originated:

Over 70% of shipments imported into the U.S. came from Asia, with 37% from China alone; Hong Kong would be the next largest supplier with 10%. For some perspective, the port of Shanghai alone accounts for over 15% of import shipments to the U.S. Shanghai's share has been steadily increasing, seeing 11.5% growth since January 2009 and 5% growth just since November. European ports have not been fairing as well as reflected in the above chart. Shipments from Bremerhaven specifically, the largest European port for exports to the United States, have decreased almost 7% over the last year and almost 22% since December.  

Below are the top 10 International Ports shipping to the U.S. by shipment count:
Zepol's U.S. Customs trade data is taken from Bills of Lading entered into the Automated Manifest System. The information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne containerized goods. This indicator is the earliest data available for the previous month’s trade activity.

Zepol has compiled a new report illustrating imports into the top 50 U.S. containerized import ports by twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Zepol derived all of this information from our trade data tools, TradeIQ and TradeView.

Each port is profiled with the following information:

• U.S. Port Ranking
• 2009 TEU Volume
• 2008 TEU Volume
• Change from 2008 to 2009
• Total Value of Imports for 2009 (Jan to Nov)
• Total Value of Imports for 2008
• Number of Bills of Lading Reported
• 2009 Monthly TEU Trend
• Top International Port Trading Partners
• 5 Key Consignees
• Top Carrier Partnerships 

To download this report, please click this link.

Zepol is pleased to provide this information to the public for the first time. Unlike other reports, this information is derived completely from information collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Census Bureau. Please let us know if you have any questions about the methodology or information reported in this report by filling out our Contact Me form.